It's a nice easy fix, but for me anyway, it wouldn't be maintainable in the long run. 2 bowls of cereal and a sensible dinner would quickly turn into 2 bowls of cereal and a late night binge. Might shed a few pounds but it doesn't teach you to eat healthy as a way of life.

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If I keep starting over, eventually it will stick, right?

Agreed! How does someone even live off of 2 bowls of cereal and one real meal? I'd be soooo hungry! Not to mention that it doesn't seem very smart to eat your biggest meal at the end of the day (dinner)...

My cereal guidelines are as follows:
-ingredients list whole grains (preferebly early in the list)
-at least 3g of protein
-the carb to sugar ratio should be 4:1 or less (meaning if there are 24 of carbs, there shouldn't be more than 6g of sugar; although I usually keep my sugar content below 5g anyway)
-at least 5g of fiber
-sodium under 200mg
-no hydrogenated oils, artificial colors or chemical preservatives

Lately I love grape nuts. They have a very satisfying nutty crunch. Eaten with warmed milk and berries is fantastic, or mixed into yogurt.

Special K is alright as an occasional breakfast, but I agree that it's no way to live or even to do short term to drop a few pounds. I do like the "Chocolate Delight" variety, and have used it to quiet a chocolate craving, but to use day in and day out? No thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannabefitgrl

Agreed! How does someone even live off of 2 bowls of cereal and one real meal? I'd be soooo hungry! Not to mention that it doesn't seem very smart to eat your biggest meal at the end of the day (dinner)...

My cereal guidelines are as follows:
-ingredients list whole grains (preferebly early in the list)
-at least 3g of protein
-the carb to sugar ratio should be 4:1 or less (meaning if there are 24 of carbs, there shouldn't be more than 6g of sugar; although I usually keep my sugar content below 5g anyway)
-at least 5g of fiber
-sodium under 200mg
-no hydrogenated oils, artificial colors or chemical preservatives

Lately I love grape nuts. They have a very satisfying nutty crunch. Eaten with warmed milk and berries is fantastic, or mixed into yogurt.

I liked your post and agreed with it until you got to the Grape Nuts part, Grape Nuts isn't food, it's aggregate. Yuck. I buy them for the DH, but would prefer to starve to death before I would put them in my mouth - seriously.

Good thing would be to stop demonizing foods... high fructose corn syrup is basically sugar. If you're not eating sugar or trying to cut it out of your diet, then sure, don't eat something that has high fructose corn syrup in it.

Grape Nuts? If you like 'em, eat 'em. All dieting is managing your intake of calories. If you can work a bowl of Grape Nuts into your calories for the day, go for it!

There aren't any foods - none - that are magic and going to make your body lose weight. Your brain, your ability to look at the bottom line on the food page of fitday.com, is going to be the best thing you use for a diet. Nothing else. Nothing.